Feeding mechanism for sewing-machines.



L. KRUG.

FEEDING MEGHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

In vemmr 4M by L. KRUG.

FEEDING MEGHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 29, 1905. v L8L453 Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

4: SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[In venwr L, KRUG.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

mvenmr A ztzzest L. KRUG. FEEDING MECHANISM FOR'SBWING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHBET 4.

Invemmr $6. WTWQA My Patented Dec. 16, 1913.

STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

LOUIS KRUG, OF NYAOK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO METROPOLITAN SEWING MACHINE I COMPANY, OF NYAOK, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. f6, 1913.

Application filed May 29, 1905. Serial No. 262,793.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, LoUIs KRUG, a citizen of the United States, residing in Nyack, county of Rockland, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Feeding Mechanism for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to sewing machines and, especially, to the feeding mechanism thereof.

Among the objects of this invention may be noted the following: to provide a duplex feeding mechanism by means of which very heavy work may be traversed to and from the stitch-forming mechanism of a sewing machine; to provide a feeding mechanism by means of which two or more layers of work may be traversed simultaneously to and from the stitch-forming mechanism without the one slipping upon the other; to provide a feeding mechanism by means of which heavy work may be traversed to and from the stitching mechanism, in combination with means whereby a binding may be applied to the edge of said work and fed at the same speed as the said work without slipping relatively; to provide a feeding mechanism in combination with a binding mechanism such thatthe feed will operate upon the binding and upon the main body of the work so as to traverse the same together and produce uniformity of work; to provide a combined feedin and binding mechanism such that the binding can be led up to the path of feed and turned upon the edge of the work in said path and traversed simultaneously with the Work to the stitching mechanism; to provide a feeding mechanism including a top and bottom feeddevice, the speed or extent of movement of both of which can be regulated proportionately so as to secure absolute uniformity in the feed of several pieces of work, viz., to provide adjusting means whereby, when one dog'is regulated as to extent of movement, the other dog can be proportionately regulated so that both have substantially the same feed-movement for the purposes stated; and to provide a feeding mechanism the movements of the various dogs of which can be regulated so as to cause them to have relatively varying extents of movement, and so that certain variations of movements can be produced during the operation of the machine, at the will of the operator.

With the above objects in View, and others which will be disclosed during the course of this description, this invention consists in the parts, features and combinations of elements and mechanisms hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings accompanying this description: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a chain-stitch sewing machine showing the application of the invention thereto, and illustratin the juxtaposition of the stitchforming, ceding and binding mechanisms, the cloth-plate in this figure being shown in section, a portion of the feed-adjusting means being broken away, and certain parts of the stitch-forming mechanism being omitted for clear illustration of the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical, transverse section of the lower portion of Fig. l with the cloth-plate removed and looking toward the left of said figure, this figure showing means whereby the throw of one of the feed-dogs may be adjusted during the operation of the machine; Fig. 3 is a front end elevation of the lower portion of Fig. 1, the cloth-plate being removed as in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view showing the top feed in cooperation with the lower feed; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation and partial sectional view of Fig. 4; Fi 6 is a top plan of the throatplate and sli e-plate of the machine, showing the structure thereof with a suitable binder in place; Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 6 on.-the line 77 Fig. 8 is a top plan of the throat-plate; Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 8 on the line 9+9. 1

Primarily, it will be understood that the top feeding mechanism, which is one of the important features of this invention, may be placed in combination with either an ordinary lower feeding mechanism, or with a differential feeding mechanism of any desired type, the lower feeding mechanism shown in the drawings being of the differential type and having for its particular object the manipulation of one or more pieces of work in such manner as, to produce on the edge or in the body thereof a shirring, puckering or fulling. This will be set forth in detail presently.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the frame of the machine, 2 the cloth-plate, 3 the driving-shaft, 4 the needle-lever actuated by the pitman 5, driven by an eccentric carried by the shaft 3, in usual manner. The lever 4 drives the needle-bar 6 by the link-connection 7, said 'bar carrying the needle 8; and said lever also drives the rod 9 connected to and actuating the lever as is usual in this type of machine. The presser-bar 10 is supported and operates in the head of the machine adjacent to and parallel with the needle-bar in the usual manner and carries at its lower end the foot 11, which cooperates with the lower feed-dogs, as presently described.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, the lower feeding mechanism consists essentially of the disk 12 on the end of the driving-shaft 3,

provided with the diametrical slot 13, in which is adjustable, by the screw 14, a crankdevice 15, surrounded by the strap end of the pitman 16, the latter being pivotally connected at its other end to the journalpin or shaft 17, carried in the upper end of the feed-rocker 18, pivoted at its lower end at 19 to the bed of the machine. The feedbar 20 is carried on the journal-pin 17 of the feed-rocker and carries at its forward end the main feed-dog 21, which may be vertically adjusted by the screw22, as is common. The feed-bar 20 supports and hassliding in it the auxiliary bar 23, carrying at its outer end the auxiliary dog 24, vertically adjustable by the screw 25. The

main and auxiliary feed-dogs are given their vertical movements by the eccentric 26 on the shaft 3 which engages the bottom of the main feedar and an L-shaped bracket 27, secured to the bottom of sald bar. The auxiliary bar and dog partake of the movements of the main bar, and in addition to such movements may be moved independ-.

. ently of said bar by means of the lever 28,

slotted at 29, and pivoted at 30 to the bed of the machlne, sald lever being curved in the arc of a circle struck from the axis ofv the journal 17. The auxiliary bar 23 is connected to the lever 28 by the slide-block 31, pivotally connected to said bar by the screw 32, and operating within the slot 29. Variations in the movement of the bar 23, relatively to the bar 20, are secured by means of a threearmed lever, one arm 33 of which is pivotally connected to a shoe 34, which embraces and slides on the lever 28; and the arm 35 of which three-armed lever has adjustably connected to it the stop-plate 36, by means of the screw 37, tapped into said arm 35,

through the slot 38, the pin 39, carried by the said arm 35, projecting in the said slot 38, for the purpose of limiting the movement of the stop-plate 36 in one direction and also for preventing said stop-plate from having pivotal movement on the screw'37; while the arm 40 provides a means formanipulating the three-armed lever, which may be accomplished by hand or through the medium of a chain or rod 41 passing down through the table 42 and connected in any suitable manner with either a treadle or knee-shift 43, only conventionally shown in the drawings, the spring 44 being for the purpose of taking up slack in the chain and preventing the latter from rattling during the rapid operation of the machine, said spring, as shown in Fig. 2, being connected with the chain and the bottom of the table. Now viewing Fig. 2, it will be seen that the outer end of the arm 35 of the three-armed lever is extended rearwardly at a rightangle, as at 45, and has passing through the same a stop-screw 46 held by a jam-nut 47 the end of sand screw standing in position for engagement with the feed-rocker 18, as will be understood. In this figure, it will also be seen that the stopplate"36 has its end extended at a right-angle as at 48, said end carrying the stop-pin 49 which engages the opposite side of the fee -rocker 18, the spring 50 seated and held in the bed-plate of the machine at one end, and connected with the arm 33 at the other end, exerting a force upon the three-armed lever normally holding the stop-pin 49 in contact with said feed-rocker, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The adjustment of the stop-screw 46 constitutes one extreme of adjustment and throw of the auxiliary feed-bar 23, while the pin 49 constitutes the other extreme of such adjustment, it being possible, by this mechanism,

to cause the auxiliary feed-bar 23 to have its.

two extremes of throw, or any variation thereof, by manipulation of the three-armed lever during the operation of the machine at'the will of the operator. The lever is fulcrumed on the pin 17 of the feed-rocker. The feeding mechanism so far described constitutes a differential feed capable of feeding one piece of work relatively to another at' varying speeds for the purposes already stated.

Cooperating with the main feed-clog 21, and connected to and actuated by the main feed-bar 20, is the top feed which forms an important feature of this invention. As shown in Fig. 2, the arm 51 is secured to the feed-bar 20, for vertical adjustment, by means of the screw 52 tapped into the said bar through the slot 53 in the said arm 51, a washer 54 being set between the said arm 'of obtaining a tight connection. The link 55 is pivotally connected by the screw 56 to the upper end of the arm 51, the opposite end of said link being connected to the top feeddevice by means of the screw 57 which may, if desired, carry an anti-friction device or be provided with a smooth body working in the slot 58 of lever 59 pivoted at 60- to the depending portion of an arm 61, rigidly secured in any suitable manner to the presser-bar 10 just'above its foot, as by a clamping-collar 62. A nut 63, secured upon the end of the screw 57, holds the adjustment of the end of the link 55 in the slot 58 of lever 59, upon such adjustment depending the amount of throw to be imparted to said lever 59, through the medium of the arm 51, connected to the feed-bar 20. At its lower end the lever 59 haspivotally connected to it at 64-the feed-foot 65, said foot being normally depressed into cotiperative relation with the main feed-dog 21, by means of the spring 66, rigidly secured to the lever 59 and having its lower curved end bearing with tension upon the toe 67 of said feedfoot. Viewing Fig. 5, it will be seen that the spring 66 is sufficiently broad to bear not only upon the toe of the feed-foot 65, but also upon a portion of the presser-foot 11. Hence, irrespective of the strength of spring 66, the feed-foot will be depressed with only a certain amount of pressure upon the work, this construction also permitting the employment of a very stiff spring capable of causing the foot to properly cotiperate with smooth and heavy work. By this construction it will be seen that the main feedbar imparts the longitudinal reciprocation to the feed-foot and that, as said bar is raised and lowered, said foot will be proportionately raised and lowered according to the adjustment of the link 55 along the slot 58 of lever 59, hence releasing the grip of the foot '65 upon the top of the work after the main dog 21 has released the bottom of the work and is about to rise into engagement therewith again. It will also be seen that the top feed-foot 65 may be adjusted as to its feed movement in accordance with the feed movement of the dog 21, and it will also be seen that said top feed-foot 65 may be given a throw such as to pucker the piece of work with which the dog 21 coiiperates, the

feeding mechanism consequently being able to accomplish various functions, as will be readily understood, and as will be further referred to.

Cotiperating with the feeding and stitching mechanisms is a binding mechanism which will be understood upon reference to Figs. 6 tov 9, inclusive. The binder or binder-guide is indicated by 68, connected to a plate or shank 69, provided with longitudinal slots through which extend screws 70, tapped into the slide-plate 71, said slideplate being also slotted at its forward end, as at 72, for the reception of the binder 68 and so as to let a portion thereof below the surface of said slide-plate and of the clothplate of the machine. No stress is laid upon the form of the binder, except that it is provided with the forwardlyextending fingers 73, the bottom one of which overlaps the throat-plate 7 4 and extends into a depression 75 thereof directly in line with the feed and the path of reciprocation of the needle. The

depression 7 5 in the throat-plate lets the lower finger 73 of the binder below the-surface, whereby the edge of the work may pass between the two fingers and slide through or within the throat 76 of the binder directly in the line of feed and the path of the needle. This enables the bottom fold of the binding to be properly placed on the bottom of the work and the top fold of the binding to be properly placed on the top of the work, and, by providing means for adjusting the binder toward and from the path of the feed, the edges of the ginding-material can be properly placed or laid for the penetration of the needle and the proper disposition of the line of stitching.

The various features of this invention having been set forth, together with the operation of the several mechanisms, it only remains to set forth the general operation and cotiperation of the several mechanisms.

Revolution of the driving-shaft gives the usual movements to the stitch forming mechanism for producing a chain-stitch and also gives to the feeding mechanism the usual four-motions through the mechanism described and particularly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. In addition 'to the ordinary feed movement, according to the adjustment of the three-armed lever or the manipulation of the same during the operation of the machine, the auxiliary feed-bar may be given a movement relatively slower or faster than the movement given to the main feed-bar,

hence, producing the desired effect upon the work. At the same time the work is fed and stitched, a binding is applied to the edge thereof by means of the binding-guide Which presents the binding-material in position to inclose the edge of the work, directly in the line of feed and properly to the stitching point. As the work is traversed, the binding material and the work will be properly stitched together, the top feed-foot co6perating with the main dog to advance all the pieces of work to substantially the same extent and in substantially the same time. And if the work be heavy, and irrespective of its character, the top feed-foot will firmly grip and traverse the work consonant-1y with the movement of the work in contact with the main feed-dog 21, thus preventing the 1 pieces of work from slipping upon each 7 and, in addition thereto, the spring 66 applies its power to depress the toe of the foot and thus enables it to cooperate with the feed-dog 21 for the purposes stated. Obviously, by coupling the feed-foot-lever 59 with the main feed-bar, the power of the latter is directly transmitted to the top feedfoot, thus producing the feed movement of the top feed with great power and strength, preventing any possibility of inaccurate work. Obviously, the length of stitch or feed movement of the main feed-bar can be adjusted by the mechanism described as carried by the end of the driving-shaft, and according to such adjustment the throw of the top feed-foot may also be regulated by shifting the link connection at 57 with the footactuating lever 59. Furthermore, if, for any reason, it is desired to crimp, full or pucker the binding-material on the work,

the same can be accomplished by giving to the foot-actuatin lever 59 a slightly greater throw'than the eed-dog 21; and, if several pieces of fabric are being traversed,-not necessarily binding ethe top piece may be crimped, fulled or puckered upon the lower piece by means ofthe feed-foot as just described.

In view of the above description of the mechanism and its operation, the following may be noted as among the advantages of this invention: A feeding mechanism is produced by means of which a binding may be properly applied to the edge of work witho-utstretching or puckering the same on said work; one piece of material may be fulled or puckered upon or relatively to another piece of material, andthis may be acconr plished in addition to giving, by the auxiliary feed-dog, a desired curved or rounding,

or puckered or similar effect to the bodyportion eration the auxiliary bar; two pieces of work may be accurately fed together with erfect uniformity by means of the top eed mechanism, in combination with the main feed of the work during the stitching opmechanism, thus overcoming the great objection heretofore experiencedin the feeding of two pieces of heavy work, or of work having glazed surfaces which are liable to slip one upon the other; some of the various effects referred to above may be produced during the operation of the machine and after a given adjustment has been made, at the will of-the'operator, by manipulating the three-armed lever to control the action of the auxiliary feed-bar, and other of the effects above noted can be produced by adjusting the foot-actuating lever 59 so as to have a difierent feed stroke from that of the by properly adjusting the throw of.

main feed-bar 20; by providing the adjustment for the binder as described, .and letting its bottom turningfinger 73 into the throatplate, the binding can be easily and uniformly applied to the edge of the work directly in the line of feed and in such position that both the upper feed-foot and main feed-dog can be imposed directly upon the binding and thus insure its accurate and uniform application to the edge of the work; and the top feed mechanism, by reason of its simple construction and mode of application to the machine, can be quickly and readily removed by disconnecting the arm 51 from the feed-bar 20 and removing the bracket 61 from the resser-bar, thus reducing the feeding mechanism to a differential feed or an ordinary feeding-device in theevent the foot is in cooperation with merely a single feed-dog and, vice versa, an ordinary feeding mechanism of a duplex differential feeding mechanism can be quickly supplemented by the application of the top feeding mechanism, thus giving the ordinary machines greater capacity and making the same more effective by the increase of its functions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by'Letters Patent is:

1. A feeding mechanism comprising a main-feed-bar carrying a dog, and a top feed-foot cooperating therewith, means above the feed-bar for supporting the feed- 7 foot, means for connecting said foot with the said bar whereby the former will be actuated by the latter, and means whereby adjustments of the foot may be made independently of the adjustments of the liar to regulate the stroke of the foot relatively to the cooperating dog.

2. A feeding mechanism for sewing machines comprising a main feed-bar carrying a dog, a feed-foot cooperating with said dog, a lever pivotally supported at one end and pivotally supporting said foot at'its other end, means connecting the said bar with said lever including \a device adjustable lengthwise of said lever between its ends to regulate the movement of said foot.

3. A feeding mechanism for'sewing mathe feed-foot from the main feed-bar, and signed my name in the presence of two sub.- Lneans 1for acguating the ineiin and auxiliary scribing witnesses.

ars, t e sai means inc u in a, device by which the auxiliary bar ma; be actuated LOUIS'KRUG' 5 differentially relatively to the main feed- Witnesses:

ar. CHAS. MOO. CHAPMAN,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto M. HERsKovITz. 

